ChaLEAN Extreme Review: Push Phase - aka Ahhnold's in da house

If you find my review helpful in anyway, please leave me a comment or ask me more questions if you have them. Also, please go here and follow the directions if you'd like for me to reply to your comments. Thanks!

Here's my Burn Phase Review.
Here's my Lean Phase Review (includes final results).
Here's my Turbo Jam Review.

Phase 2 of the three phase ChaLEAN Extreme program is the Push Phase. This is the phase where you "go heavy or go home!" as Chalene likes to say and she's not joking.

:: OVERVIEW OF PUSH PHASE::

There are 9 exercises in each circuit, just like in the Burn Phase, but instead of trying to reach failure between 10-12 reps, you're aiming for failure in 6-8.

A week in the Push Phase looks like this:

• Day 1 - Push Circuit 1
• Day 2 - Rest (this is critical because of the intensive weight training of Circuits 1 & 2 - you can add a cardio here, but don't do back-to-back Circuits)
  
• Day 3 - Push Circuit 2
• Day 4 - Burn Intervals & Ab Burner
• Day 5 - Push Circuit 3 (with the exception of Week 1 which is Burn Circuit 3)
  
• Day 6 - Burn it Off! & Recharge
• Day 7 - Rest

Burn Intervals is a combination strength- and cardio- training that alternates bursts of intense activity with intervals of lighter activity. Ab Burner & Extreme Abs are 10 minute workouts that uses weights to work your middle. Burn it Off! is high intensity with light weights and approximately 30 minutes long and Recharge is a yoga-esque stretching routing that lasts 20 minutes.

::TIME::

You might think that you'd finish faster because you're doing the same amount of exercises, but with less reps, but it's actually the same because you do more Extreme Sets (a set of 3 extremely slow, concentrated reps) than in Burn, so the work out times are approximately the same (35-40 minutes long) for Circuits 1, 2, and 3.

The Burn Intervals & Ab Burner/Extreme Abs workouts total about an hour, as do the Burn it Off! & Recharge combo.

::TO START::

Because I had become stronger during Burn, I had to go purchase more weights (5lbs, 10lbs, & 20lbs), and I'm glad I did. Currently, I'm in Week 2 and I've already used my 20lb weights and might need to buy a set of 25lbs to finish the month.

::CONCLUSION::

Push Phase is no joke, but I actually like it better. I like the shorter sets and I really feel accomplished after lifting so heavy. Chalene is relentless in reminding you to support your back via ab contractions and protecting your knees with proper knee/ankle position.

The music is great, sometimes a little dramatic, but whatever. If I let myself get into the groove, I kinda dig how hard core it all is.

I haven't gained any more weight since Burn, so that's good, but others are seeing more results. My husband even made a great comment about how my butt's getting rounder and how that's a good thing! But, I also haven't lost anything. I've read that the Push Phase is when a lot of women gain their weight, so at least I'm not alone in this. And even though I gained mine in Burn I'm trusting that I just need to keep at it.

I'm surprised at how challenging Burn It Off (BIO), Burn Intervals (BI) and Recharge continue to be on my non-circuit days. Because I'm working harder during the circuits, I'm much more fatigued and so have to push myself even harder, thus getting a terrific workout.

........................................................

7/9/09 Update:
Currently, I'm about to finish Week 2 and I'm still at +10lbs. I've been reading that some people need to add more cardio on their circuit days in order to see weight loss. I think I'm one of those people. I have Jillian Michael's Making the Cut (which I've never done since I didn't have the equipment or gym membership), but she's got some interesting advice in there. Particularly about afterburn, which means you burn calories not only during exercise, but after. So, if you split up your workout into two, then you get two separate afterburns. Combining this idea of adding more cardio to my week AND afterburn, starting next week I'm going to do a separate cardio workout on my circuit days at another part of my day to maximize my calorie burn.

I've also started calorie-counting again. Oh joy. I'm within my goal, but that's never really been enough, so I'm also on the wagon. Oy. I LOVE wine, so this is going to be hard. I'll just have to pretend I'm pregnant again.

I'll update at the end of Push Phase.

8/1/09 Update:
By the end of the Push Phase I hadn't lost any weight. Nor had I stopped drinking wine. I did lose 5 lbs the first week I used the BodyBugg, however, so I can attest that eating better does gain you results while on this program.